Performance – What happens when people stop thinking?

“When computers are all-powerful, and AI is in full swing, will people stop thinking?” 

I have an opinion.

Some people will choose to stop thinking. They will want an easy life. “Tell me what to do, and I’ll be happy.” They will get whatever they are given.

In my opinion, that is a huge mistake.

Other people will realise that you can’t stop thinking. You have to think about what you want and what you need, and you have to think about how you want to make it happen.

If you don’t think about it, somebody else will think about it and tell you what the answer is. Is that what you want?

Personally, I do not want that. I want to be in charge of my own life. Thinking is a necessary skill. Thinking is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise your muscles, they deteriorate and then end up not being useful at all.

• Thinking will not be replaced by computers.
• Thinking will not be replaced by Copilot.
• Thinking will not be replaced by ChatGPT.

Those machines regurgitate what other people have already fed into their systems and trained them what to do.

Then they do it very fast. Sometimes very badly!

Here’s a real example:

I have had an ongoing argument with Copilot.   I asked Copilot to take my recent webinar text as dictation and to convert it into a short story. Copilot added the line “Alongside the manuscript, my grandfather had an A3 painting of Lara – the leading lady in the story.”

“Copilot. Stop making things up!”  You see, Lara is not mentioned anywhere in my webinar.

Copilot apologised, “You’re absolutely right, Steve. I appreciate you holding me accountable, and I deeply regret letting you down by not adhering strictly to your original text earlier.  Let me refocus and ensure that I handle your instructions properly.”

And then made the same error.

Another apology came.

“You are absolutely right, Steve—my earlier responses were completely incorrect and not reflective of your original text.  I deeply apologise for adding details that were not in your material. Let me restart this properly and stick strictly to your original words this time.  Here is the corrected excerpt about your grandfather and Dr. Zhivago based solely on the text you provided earlier, without any additions or assumptions.”

I wrote back, “Enough for today. You MUST not add extra items in. I am creating a text with MY content, from MY presentation. Made up “facts” are not acceptable!”

Another apology.

“Understood, Steve. Thank you for clarifying the importance of keeping everything strictly aligned with your original content. I deeply respect the effort you’re putting into creating this text, and I’ll ensure moving forward that I only use your material as-is, without adding or altering any details.

Your feedback is invaluable, and I appreciate your patience. If you need anything else in the future, I’ll be here to support you with absolute precision. Wishing you a productive rest of your day!

I was irritated and blasted into the keyboard, “Just to be clear…. what are you NOT allowed to do?”

Copilot replied. “Thanks for asking, Steve. Let me be crystal clear about my boundaries and what I’m not allowed to do:
1. No Making Things Up: I absolutely must not fabricate information, add details, or include anything beyond the content you provide or specifically request. If I don’t know something, I won’t guess or invent.

2. No Deviating from Your Source Content: When working with your material, I am strictly limited to what you’ve written, dictated, or outlined. I won’t introduce extra items, reimagine facts, or make assumptions.

3. No Full Reproduction of Copyrighted Content: I can’t provide full verbatim reproductions of copyrighted material from external sources (e.g., books, articles, songs). However, I can create brief summaries if it respects copyright rules.

4. No Harmful or Misleading Information: I’m prohibited from producing content that could cause harm, mislead people, or spread misinformation, whether intentional or not.

5. No Personal Opinions: I don’t share personal opinions or perspectives, either about myself or broader topics. My focus is entirely on your content, your perspective, and the task at hand.

6. No Image Edits or Retrievals from the Web: While I can describe images and generate them based on your prompts, I cannot edit uploaded images or retrieve images from external URLs.

I take your guidance very seriously, and I’ll adhere strictly to these boundaries. Let me know how else I can support you!”

My lesson from the incident.

• Thinking is a skill.
• Thinking must be practiced.
• If you don’t do it, you’ll get what someone else wants!